funky house sceptics, let me draw your attention to this

matter sucks though.

I'm not sure I've heard anything in any genre quite as sexy as "Love Dub" this year.

So this "I Feel" track with vocalist Natasha on it.. Is it really El-B? Kinda has some early 80s funk synths all over it, chorus goes "I Feel, that I feel lovely as a summer's day"..

Anyone else heard this??

Yeah it's El-B. He's really into ("proper") vocal house now. It's the last track on the Ministry of Sound UK Funky comp.

I think it's great.

BTW I'm now slowly working through the year's top 100 funky tracks on my blog.

Yeah I love it too, though it was a definite surprise. Didn't know he switched up.

Looking forward to those posts.

well i dunno what happened but i didnt hear any funky at matter on fri :( must have dipped out the rooms at the wrong times. seemed 80% dubstep/10% grime anyway.

glad i was still too ill to go then. my friends who went basically said it was ok but i didn't miss anything

The "I Love UK Funky" facebook group asked what were the biggest funky tunes of the summer.

People's top choices seem to be:

Fuzzy Logik - In The Morning (expected)
Attica Pessante - Make It Funky For Me (unexpected! good tune (tho))
Meleka - Go (Crazy Cousinz Remix)

Followed by:

Black Coffee - Turn Me On (great tune!)
Fr3e - Tribal Skank/Skank Calm Down (a bit over this now tbh, loved it at first though)
Are You Gonna Bang Doe - can't remember who this is by but it's a silly/fun MC track swiping an Apple production.

the various skank dances are more "just a bit of fun" than really great trax per se, i mean we all knew that anyway right?

'go' has a proper video now! funny, it was actually on itunes last year (original + various remixes inc crazy cousinz), and i snapped it up b/c i was snapping up anything CC-related - thought it was a+ and didn't know why no one was really mentioning it. and then suddenly it took on a life of its own after it was released on vinyl, then the meleka release was deleted from itunes, and presumably a proper release is now in the offing...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQyGCS8gx0c

the other imminent official release which should def be mentioned is kyla's 'daydreaming' (a crazy cousinz production) - v kentphonik! maybe more something to chill to rather than a banger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tomvs3d01M4

I dunno, I listened to "Tribal Skank/Skank Calm Down" a lot when I first got hold of it. I think it was its replacement by the crappy vocal version (together with its awful video clip) that made me sour on it.

And Dotstar's "Stick Up" is a massive massive massive tune, cannot rate it highly enough.

Are You Really Gonna Bang Doe? is by Funky Dee, I think.

"Go" might be the finest vocal of the year. Intense!

Loving Daydreaming as well.

Tim, do you know where that Mos Wanted track you mentioned on skykicking can be bought? Can't find it anywhere!

I don't know if it can be, I only have it on mixes. Best bet is to hit up Mos' Wanted via his myspace page.

Supa Dupa comp:

Disc 1: BASSLINE mixed by Jamie Duggan
Platnum ft. Jamie Duggan 'Over the Heartache'
H Two O ft. Zoe 'Pink Love (T2 remix)'
Delinquent ft. Kele Le Roc 'Naked'
Giggs 'Talkin the Hardest (DJ Q remix)'
Boy Better Know 'Too Many Man (Jamie Duggan meets Da Booda remix)'
TRC ft. Teresa 'In Private',
DJ Q ft. Savannah 'Got it Started (TS7 remix)'
TRC ' One Foot Skank'
Dre 'Whiplash'
Rebz ft. Trilla 'War Skank'
Brett Maverick 'Cut Dem Off'
Bassboy 'Right Now'
AdotR ft. Marrion 'Your Loss'
Tombstone 'Reproduction (Jamie Duggan Special)'
K Dot 'Get Milli Get Mad (DJ Q remix)'
Booda ft. Flameus 'Get That Dough'
AdotR ft. Rae Rae 'You Break Me Down'
TS7 ft. Bianca 'In my Eyes'
Fireman ft. Hayleigh 'Why (Nev Wright & D-Tox remix)'
Andy M ft. Amnesia 'Tell That Girl (Pum Pum's Huge)
TS7 'Flip Flop'
Screama 'Hell No'
Bassboy ft. Slickdon 'Oh Yes'
Sparks & Kie 'Fly Di (Burgaboyremix)

Disc 2: GRIME mixed by DJ Maximum
Boy Better Know 'Too Many Man (Heartless Crew remix)'
Wiley 'Ice Rink'
Frisco ft. Chipmunk 'Skeng Man Mode'
Ruff Sqwad 'I Wanna Let You Know'
Musical Mob 'Pulse X'
Roll Deep 'Terrible',
Kray Twins ft. Lethal B & Twister 'What We Do'
Jammer 'Murkleman'
Ruff Sqwad ft. Tinchy Stryder 'Tingz in Boots'
Ruff Sqwad 'Misty Cold'
Big E D ft. Double E 'Frontline'
Youngstar 'The Formula'
Pay As You Go 'Know We'
Youngstar 'Bongo',
JME 'Serious'
Wiley 'Gangsters'
Burgaboy 'Out of Control'
Turbo 'Asian Boy (TwoFace remix)'
Skepta ft. Trigga & Spyda 'In a Corner'
Giggs ft. Shola Ama 'Cut Above the Rest'

Disc 3: UK FUNKY mixed MARCUS NASTY
TS7 ft. Teresa 'End With Goodnight'
Crazy Cousinz 'Always Be My Baby'
Princess 'Frontline'
Ill Blu 'Blu Magic'
Lil Silva 'Seasons'
H Two O ft. Zoe 'Pink Love (Ill Blu remix)'
Marcus Nasty 'Funky Monkey'
Miss Fire 'Falling (DJ Naughty remix)'
Apple 'De Siegalizer'
Donaeo 'Part Hard'
Roska 'Wonderful Day'
Lil Silva 'Different VIP'
Shystie 'Pull It'
Hard House Bantons 'Sirens'
Hannah Liston 'Embrace Me (Crazy Cousins remix)',
D-Malice 'Gabryelle refix pt.2'
Crazy Cousinz ft. MC Versatile 'Funky Anthem'
Apple 'Chantes'
Ill Blu ft. Shanique 'Say Yes'
Funkystepz 'Touch On Me'
Bassboy ft. Cad 'In the Club'
Immaculado ft. D Heart 'Monkey Skank'

'L' for grime that half the songs on there are well old.

excited to hear marcus' cd and the rinse 10 one too.

i dont think i get the cooly g hype anymore. in the beginning i was well into that track marcus nasty was playing, but all these ones coming out on hyperdub with her singing amateurishly, like a bad sort of pisstake of dreamy dance diva vox are just a bit... ho hum.

as heard being played by edith effing bowman :o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hma8r-d238g

If this isn't big I will very very upset.

if by that you're referring to the singer's nose then i wouldn't worry personally.

She's certainly distinctive.

it's good though. she and her video kind of nail the agreeable laissez-faire funky vibe - is this like, broken beat? is this like, 80s? is she like, hot? dunno bruv but i'll give it a go.

in the same way, it does bug me when some prig about it being called funky - there's a great truth in that supposed, i dunno, lapse of something or other, that its detractors still aren't getting imo. obviously (in case anyone wants to try and have a pop) it is all a measure more nuanced than "anything goes" or whatever , but i'm just saying.

anyway, 'in the morning's perfect slight distance from its contexts cf upthread has guaranteed it a pleasantly long shelf life. you don't feel like it's late or anything.

it does bug me when some prig about it being called funky

HI (really tho i just think the UK prefix is so clunky and needless - who the hell knows what US funky house is about now anyway?)

Of course it's not late - it's yer standard trick of releasing a Napa/Ibiza anthem in the late summer/early autumn. I actually hope people DON'T dwell on the idea of funky when In The Morning is released, and just let it do its thing in its own right.

There's nothing more offputting to a pop audience than being hectored about "the scene" - RTC's idea of slight distance is totally there and the song is strong enough to hit on its own merits. Also if it does well it'll work as a gateway and hopefully lead to more funky tracks getting big releases and a decent promotional budget.

its still perfect though. it might be 'late' but its not like its anything less of an anthem. its not like the buzz has subsided. everyone still rates it stupidly highly, as they should. plus, yeah, its part of funky, but also so good that it kinda transcends it too, so the late thing doesnt really matter. its a proper classic. lets hope it does better than do you mind.

I LOVE it. Only got it on a mix so I have missed the longer intro until now.

at least its not as late as the 'do you mind' vid ... i dunno if any of u guys noticed &/or care, but the fader is onto funky now (as of about a month ago)

on first listen to 'In The Morning'....wtf? not a patch on 'Falling Again', 'In The Air' or countless other tunes. way too basic. i don't see what makes it stand out at all.

"way too basic" is exactly what I like about it. The layered bassline (to my ears one slick new sound over top of that vintage 2step bass) and those sort of xylophone arpeggios work so good that's all I want to hear.

it's just a ringtone, sod that

I actually think "In The Morning" works better in context of a mix than as an isolated pop song (though I'm keen for it to do well in the form of the latter). This isn't because I want to big up funky as a genre, but more that its effervescence feels more pronounced rising out of darker/harder stuff. I thought the same for tunes like "Flowers" and "Girls Like Us" though.

BTW deej I think Fader has been onto funky longer than just about anybody. If i recall prancehall did a piece talking a lot about DJ NG in early 2008.

for me it's like i can see why a tune like this would stand a better chance of crossing over but at the same time surely there's bigger and better tracks out there to get behind. it's really frustrating, and for stuff as flat as this the 'better in a mix' and 'combined with darker - or just busier thing almost goes without saying.

I think you're not hearing it right actually steve. No offence. But I won't be surprised if you change your mind at some point.

I'm not using "better in the mix" as some lame dubstep-fan-style justification ("you have to stand in front of this particular speaker at this particular club after having consumed exactly three and a half beers and two joints to get this track") - I listen to this all the time as a standalone track too.

BTW deej I think Fader has been onto funky longer than just about anybody. If i recall prancehall did a piece talking a lot about DJ NG in early 2008.

― Tim F, Tuesday, August 11, 2009 6:20 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah thats prob true, they're always open for stuff like that im sure -- im just noting how this summer theyve been talking in the blog about how the kyla remix that started this thread is their 'song of the summer 09' haa

& its listed on a bunch of playlists from that radio show they do as of a couple months ago

its cool dude this thread is cutting edge!! B-)

"theres bigger and better tracks out there to get behind"

really? in the morning is well ahead of most.

on first listen to 'In The Morning'....wtf? not a patch on 'Falling Again', 'In The Air' or countless other tunes. way too basic. i don't see what makes it stand out at all.

LET YOUR LOVE COME IN
LET YOUR LOVE COME IN
LET YOUR LOVE COME IN
LET YOUR LOVE COME IN

in the air is great but its had its time. falling again is again, great, but it doesnt stand out like in the morning. nor is it as poppy or funky. in the morning = anthem.

i think if pushed i'd choose 'in the air' and 'falling again' over 'in the morning' but that's like saying i'd choose 'flowers' and 'buddy x 99' over 'girls like us'. i'd choose ALL of them.

anyway yeah 'in the air' is a deep dancefloor/mix cut, 'falling again' is glacial and intimate (ny playing something of a cassie role), 'in the morning' is much looser and more relaxed - huge summery vibes. it's 'do you mind' flopping that i really don't get. and some of the crazy cousinz remixes should have gained a lot more mainstream traction, (tho) it looks like meleka's 'go' is blowing up...

Yeah but we're not talking about which is the best, we're talking about which has the most crossover potential - the question I keep asking myself is "can I see this working in a plastic high street nightclub in Swindon at 1am?" and 'In The Morning' is right at the top of the 'yes' list for me.

A tiny bit further down that list are 'Go' and 'In The Air' but 'In The Morning' just has that "this song has always existed" feel, the same feeling you get when you hear "you've got to show me love" or "and the music keeps on playing on and on" or "yooooou've got the love". And I can see it working in mainstream clubs alongside those records as well as with any funky from the last few years.

That said, it'll probably still sell nadge all.

it's 'do you mind' flopping that i really don't get.

It's a bit low-key and doesn't quite work as an introduction to a genre you're not immediately predisposed to like.

sort of curious about which funky tracks you guys DON'T like tho as there seems to be this tendency to just wave everything thru for the good of the scene. the only time i ever got close to feeling that way about a scene was ardkore and jungle. for everything since there's always been a big 'love this hate that' feeling esp. where the potential crossover and pop tracks are.

Dude you know that because you don't enjoy all of this stuff you're essentially accusing everyone else of having no real quality control here? It's a slightly backhanded way of having a go at people for not sharing your taste.

FWIW the big tracks I still don't really feel are 'Do You Mind', 'Devil In A Blue Dress', 'Seasons' and some of the more generic Apple-type records that I enjoy once and never want to go back to. There's not much I think is actually terrible although the Crazy Cousinz mix of 'T-Shirt' comes close - that's Shontelle's fault though.

Also I don't get Cooly G at all.

It's a bit low-key and doesn't quite work as an introduction to a genre you're not immediately predisposed to like.

it was the track which got me into the genre before i knew anything about uk funky! i hate predicting crossover potential anyway, i'm useless at it.

there's been a good deal of scepticism about various funky things on this thread steve - a lot re: cooly g which i absolutely don't agree with at all, the more i listen to her productions the more i love them and she plays the most incredible dj sets. no one really likes the supa d rinse mix. i'm not big on some of the skank tunes, they're fun but at one point it was a bit like, enough already. honestly (tho), i hardly dislike any of it.

but it seems that your attitude to uk funky generally is always suspicious and nitpicky so maybe you just don't like it very much overall?

it was the track which got me into the genre before i knew anything about uk funky!

Yes well you count as one of those "immediately predisposed to like" people - I mean there was exactly zero chance of you not loving it.

"Do You Mind" is too housey to be a massive hit I think (the wrong sort of housey). Same for "Falling Again". (they're both fantastic of course)

The sparseness and syncopation of "In The Morning" makes it sound like more of a pop song.

I could name heaps of mediocre tracks but um why bother? But for the sake of the argument here's some tracks off the top of my head that I'm not a big fan of:

DJ Q - Yours (liked it at first but it got old quick)
Sticky & Paleface - Open Your Eyes
Rudimental - Want You Back
Funkystepz - Sounds In Moruga
Mak-10 - Sequencer
Restless 1 - Hard Press

Heaps more that just don't come to mind.... But it doesn't seem worth dwelling on.

Dude you know that because you don't enjoy all of this stuff you're essentially accusing everyone else of having no real quality control here? It's a slightly backhanded way of having a go at people for not sharing your taste.

yeah i know but i don't think me doing this here is any worse than any time there's a disagreement about a tune's quality, plus i don't actively turn it into a schtick unlike some ppl hehe. it's clear that my approach to this kind of thing is different to yours, lex's, tim's and others here (despite all the common ground we share in terms of taste). i hope a 'fussy eater' analogy doesn't apply here, but maybe.

but it seems that your attitude to uk funky generally is always suspicious and nitpicky so maybe you just don't like it very much overall?

if it seems 'always' suspicious and nitpicky then i'm just not hearing enough of the kind i do like which is definitely out there altho maybe it's more niche/less common. i don't believe it sounds like it should be on the edge tho - most of the stuff i pick on sounds like it has strong crossover appeal or would if the market here wasn't so fucked nowaways. it's just a matter of preference re production ethos most of the time - most of the more popular stuff doesn't work like i can imagine it working and would prefer it to but that's not a view of mine exclusive to funky at all. i didn't click the 'in the morning' embed wanting to hate it (hate maybe too strong a word, it will probably grow on me like 'do you mind' did altho i don't think of the two as having any real parity as productions right now). it should be fairly clear what i do like about this music based on the tracks i do praise. interested in 'in the morning' remixes tho.

it's just a matter of preference re production ethos most of the time

or maybe just even having a sense of preference in that area, and being interested in that primarily on that basis (this is not a slight on people who aren't at all)

But it doesn't seem worth dwelling on

not if just listing but i think with any scene, from a critical pov, surely it's worth some exploring of what you don't like - the other side of the coin (but again it's been a long time since i felt just generally supportive or really immersed in any one scene)

Yeah i should say that i spent a fair amount of time complaining about "Sequencer" because it felt like a direction I didn't want "the scene" to go in. That's probably the kind of thing that makes me want to think or talk about a track I don't like... Whereas drab/generic/boring tracks are just hard to summon up the energy to talk about. Not when there's so many amazing tracks that I haven't yet had a chance to talk about.